"A mesmerizing account of the well-known story of Matsyagandha
... and her transformation from
fisherman’s daughter to Satyavati, Santanu’s royal consort and the
Mother/Progenitor of the Kuru clan." - Hindustan Times

"Themes of fate, morality and power overlay a subtle and essential feminism to make this lyrical book a must-read. If this is Madhavan’s first book in the Girls from the Mahabharata series, there is much to look forward to in the months to come." - Open Magazine

"A gleeful dollop of Blytonian magic ... Reddy Madhavan is also able to tackle some fairly sensitive subjects such as identity, the love of and karmic ties with parents, adoption, the first sexual encounter, loneliness, and my favourite, feminist rage." - Scroll

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2 March 2015

Five nice things on a Monday morning

a) It's raining in Delhi, has been for the last two days, and apparently it's a terror to commute, but for those of us cozily tucked up at home with coffee and cats, I recommend this Sufi fusion playlist which I've been listening to and humming along with all morning.

b) For particular interest to those of you who are actually interested in my cat stories, we decided to keep Squishy after all. His name is now Pablo (Squishcasso, Picatto, Escofur, Purruda) and I'm learning Spanish on Duolingo in order to "converse with him in his native tongue." The Duolingo app is kind of amazing, because all you need is 10 or 15 minutes every day (in traffic, on the pot, lying in bed etc) and it teaches you a whole new language. No easy Hindi course yet, alas for The Good Thing, but it does have a Hindi to English course if you know someone with a smartphone looking to improve their English skills.

c) I got sent via email to Soulcial Travel, a random spammy newsletter that I'd normally ignore but in this case, I was bored so I clicked through. It offers volunteer tourism but also shopping-that-gives-back, from where I came across Peter's Pasta. We ordered two boxes of the tagliatelle, one fresh, one dry and Peter came to deliver it himself (which is a nice touch!). Dudes, it was delicious. Order now! We're going to try the ravioli next.

d) Breaking our travel record for the most travel in the least amount of time, we're going to be heading off to Jaipur, Pushkar and YAY GOA in the next few weeks, thanks to a visiting friend of the Good Thing. We're on the verge of penury, but hey, fat bank balance versus travel is not much of a choice, eh?

e) My book giveaway has started on Facebook! Go check it out and partipate! Free books, what's not to love?